Filling device



Jan. 2, 1945.

J. G. HOFF FILLING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1942 '4 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. JOHN G. HOFF I f mw a m AT TORNEYS.

Jan, 2, 1945. J. G. HOFF 2,366,529

FILLING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet. 2

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ATTORNEYS.

NTOR- Jan. 2, 1945. J HOFF 2,366,529

FILLING DEVICE Filed April '23, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet a:

I I l l I I l l I l I I I I I l l I I I I I I I I I l l I I I I l I I II I I l l INVENTOR. JOHN G. HOFF BY 07 ZMMZMMMM ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 2, 1945. J. G. HOFF 2,366,529

FILLING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1942 4 Shets-Sheat 4 F/ 6 INVENTOR.

JOHN G. HOFF aw /wwww ATTORNEYS end walls of the trough with the 1uprights i 5.-

.form at the same timethe legs of the trough and Patented Jan. 2, 1945 vFILLING DEVICE s John G. Hoff; Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The TappanStove Compan poration of Ohio y, Mansfield, Ohio, a cor-ApplicationApril 2s, massin 440,149

The" present invention relates to a filling deplanes. As generallyknown, the gasoline tanks vice designed primarily for use infuelingairin airplanes are located within the wings and the fillingopening for each tank is usually located in an inaccessibleposition-which makes the use of a funnel difiicult. Another defect ofthe filling equipment hithertoin use is its slow operation. Thisdrawback may become very serious when planes. with empty tanks areexposed to enemy action-on the ground where utmost speed in refuelingmay prove to be a vital question for i the survival of the plane and thecrew.

5 0laims 101. 225-31) n i t p i As illustrated in Fig. 4, the uprightsare made of hollow members shaped as a U Wlllh...

extended flangeswhich slidingly' receive slotted bars l8, being abouthalf the lengths of. the uprights l5. The extendedflanges of uprights l5lie adjacent and are spot weldedto a TGiHjOI'O". Ying plate l9 which isin turnspot welded to wall v One of the objects of the present inventionis to provide a combined filling trough and can which will enable therefueling of an airplane tank in the shortest time possible. My fillingdevice preferably comprises a trough shaped receiver having adjustablelegs, which make it possible toplace the trough horizontallyon a,sloping airplane wing. The top of the trough is so shapedthat it willaccommodate a certainnum ber of specially designed cans in a positionready for draining their contents. The removal of empty cans at one endof the trough and simultaneous substitution of full cans at the'otherend make the filling operation continuous and as speedy aspossible.

Other novel features or my combined filling trough and can will; becomeapparent from the annexed drawings and thedetailed description of thesame. it i i Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the trough with cans infilling position; A

Fig. 2' is a vertical section along line 2--2 of Fig. 1 with cansremoved, showing one of the i valve leading to the connecting hose;

Fig. Bis a sectionalongline cans removed;

to the invention; and s Fig. 6 is a sideelevation thereof.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, l0 designates an elongated troughshaped member enclosed by longitudinal side walls I2 and two end walls,one of which, II; is seen in this figure. The upper edge of thesidewalls i2 is provided with flared flanges l3, reinforced by ribs l4and The uprights l5, four in number,

are made adjustableas more fully described bea -s of Fig. 2 with i Fig.4 is an enlarged fsection onilines 4-4 of Fig.5 is a toprplan view ofthe can according 11:0 the seat 3|.

Thebotto-m ends of bars l8 are semicircular in cross section (see Fig.2) and adjustably mounted m by means of pins 2| in slotted; squareszflthat are rigidly secured to foot members or base plates 22.The'uprights [5 are fastened on topto flanges l3 by bolts I6 and nutsl1.

and bars together in any desired position. Pins .26 are fastenedby meansof chains 21 to their. respective uprights so that they will not becomewhentemporarily removed from i the holes.

lost or misplaced The trough is providedwith the usual safety groundchain 28 having one end electrically connected to the trough, and theopposite end provided with a connecting, clip to guard against static.As shown in Fig. l, the connecting clip is. electrically connected to'ametal .part of the plane sothat the trough is thereby grounded toprevent sparking due to static-charges. i i

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the end wall II has fitted thereto" the valve30 for connection with the tank in the'airplane. Valve 30 comprises anannular seat 3| having a threaded portion 32 i which engages with athread in a nut 39. The

valve is provided with a cover 35 tightly fitting The cover carries alug 31 to which a chain or cable 38 is attached that serves for pullingup and fastening the coverin the open position. s

Into the cone shaped part 40 of the valve a funnel shapedsie've 4|isinserted which serves to filter the gasoline. i i

i The trough is preferably made of;zinc coated steel of light weightwhich makes it easy to be moved about according to requirement. For thispurpose it is, moreover, provided with folding handles 44 attached toeach of the end walls. As .a protective means against marring thesurface 10f. the airplane wings the legs havefelt or rubber i padssecured to their bottoms, which also pres.

Each of the uprights l5 and, the bars I8 is provided with a set of holeswhich are of equal size capable to register anduof which the holes s "25of the uprights I5 only appear in the drawings; these holes are adaptedto receivea pin .or bolt 26, which after being passed through tworegistering holes is adapted to hold the uprights cap and sealed in theusual manner.

' sults it is necessary to use the trough in combination with a set ofcans particularly designed for that purpose. Such a can has asubstantially square-shaped body one side wall 50 of which is seen inFig. 6, while Fig. 5 ShOWs the top 5|. The edges of the can body arerounded as are also the corners of the top 5| All parts are die formedwith ribs 52 evenly distributed around the circumference to providemaximum strength. The bottom, not shown in the drawings, is likewiseembossed with stiffening ribs;

The top 5| has a depressionli l which is spanned by a flat handle 55flush with the can top. The depression makes it possible to grip thehandle without making it project over the edge of the can. Owing to thisarrangement a number of cans may be vertically stacked upon each other.This is facilitated by making the can tops slightly smaller than thebottoms.

The cap 57, which for that same reason is counter-sunk, engagesthreadingly as at 59 with an opening 60. The cap is provided with two ormore gripping members on tabs 6| which are pierced at 62 and the can isprovided with holes 62*, registering with the holes 62. After the caphas been screwed in, wire may be threaded through the holes 62 on thecan and 62 on the To guard the cap against misplacement when unscrewed,I provide a chain 63 and anchor 64, the prongs of which are pressedtogether for insertion into the can. It is very convenient to tuck thecap under the handle 55 during the filling operation.

A vent tube 65 is provided in the can body,

which extends from the top near the opening for inite relationship tothe available space in the trough so'that the openings of the vent tubeswill be closed by the rising level of liquid inv the trough at a time,when continuation of flow would cause flooding of the trough.

As already mentioned the can is very strong owing to the reinforcingribs embossed on the side walls and the bottom. In order to make theexposed parts of the can still more resistant the top and the bottom arewrapped over the sides of the body making the total thickness of thewall at these points three times the metal thickness. The flangeextending over the can body on top of the can is comparatively deep andforms an ideal pouring lip in case a single can is used and the liquidpoured out over the corner.

For operating the filling device according to my invention the funnel isplaced on the plane wing and adjusted so that it will be substan-,tially horizontal; the outlet hose being at the same time connected tothe tank opening.

' The operator then opens, the valve and checks the strainer to removeany impurities if necessary. As soon asthe funnel is ready the cans willbe opened and the caps tucked under the handles. The cans are thenplaced on the trough one by one with their openings down and avertedfrom the service man. One can after the other is pushed toward theoutlet end of the trough until allthe cans, four in the embodiment shownin the drawings, are in position. As shown in Fig. l, the cans have atleast one transverse dimension which is greater than the width of. thetrough so that the cans maybe disposed on the flanges l3 with the topedge of the, can having the filling and discharge orifices disposedwithin the trough and below the upper edges thereof. As soon as thefirst can is empty it will be removed and the three other cans advancedaccordingly and a full can placed in the vacant space on the oppositeend of the trough.

. This procedure will be continued until the tank is filled.

Having thus described my invention what] claim is:

l. A filling device for airplane tanks comprising an elongated trough,members on the upper I edges of said trough extending outwardly thereoffor supporting fuel containers in emptying position, adjustable legsmounted on said trough adapted to hold the same in horizontal position ion a sloping airplane wing, one end wall of the trough being providedwith a discharge opening and conduit means connected to the dischargeopening for connecting the interior of said trough edges of said troughextending outwardly thereof for supporting fuel containers in emptyingposition, adjustable legs 'mounted on said trough adapted to hold thesame in horizontal position on a sloping airplane wing, one end wall ofthe trough being provided with a discharge opening, conduit meansconnected to the discharge opening for connecting the interior of saidtrough with the filling opening of a tank in said wing, a flap valvepivotally mounted within the trough and arranged to close the dischargeopening under the influence of gravity and the static pressure of fuelin the trough, said trough having its bottom inclined towards the saidend wall in which said valved discharged opening is located whereby themaximum pressure of gasoline at this end of the trough is obtained toinsure proper seating of the valve, and means accessible from theexterior of the trough for opening said flap va ve.

3. A filling trough for fueling the wing tanks of an airplane comprisingan elongated opentopped trough having a bottom wall sloping downwardlyfrom one end of the trough to the other, a pair of upright supportingmembers secured to thetrough at either end thereof and depending belowthe sloping bottom wall thererights whereby to position the trough in agem erally horizontal position regardless of the inclination of the wingsurface onwhich it is supported.

4. A filling device for airplane tanks comprising an elongated trough,outwardly flared flanges secured to and extending substantially the fulllength of the upper edges of said trough for sup porting a set of fuelcontainers in emptying position, adjustable legs mounted on said troughadapted to hold the same in horizontal position on a sloping airplanewing, one of the walls of said trough being provided with a dischargeopening, a flap valve mounted in that same wall of said trough forcontrolling the discharge of fuel from the trough through said opening,and conduit means for connecting the discharge opening of said troughwith the filling opening of a tank of said wing.

spective pairs of uprights and positionable to hold 5. A filling devicefor airplane tanks comprising an elongated trough, flange members on theupper edges of said trough extending outwardly thereof for supporting aset of fuelcontainers in emptying position, pairs of uprights mounted onsaid trough at opposite ends of the trough, adjustable foot memberscarried jointly by the rethe trough in horizontal position on a slopingairplane wing, the upper ends of the uprights being secured .to theflanges to reinforce the same, one

end wall of the trough being provided with a discharge opening, a flapvalve mounted in that same wall of said trough for controlling saiddischarge opening, and conduit means connecting the discharge opening ofsaid trough with the filling opening of a tank of saidwing.

JOHN G. HOFF'.

